Patrick McLanahan Collection #1 (68 page)

Radar navigator Daren Mace has been to the gates of hell and back. In Operation Desert Storm he rightfully aborted a secret mission, only to be ostracized by the flying community as a result. Now Mace has a new role—in the Air Force Reserves at a New York air base, where he meets Rebecca Furness, the first U.S. woman combat pilot. Known as the “Iron Maiden,” Furness is unlike any other aviator Mace has ever known: she's of course tough and an ace flier—but she's also beautiful.

When, halfway around the world, a border skirmish involving Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova leads to the deployment of low-yield nuclear devices, the new U.S. president faces his biggest challenge yet. He puts the country on full wartime readiness footing for the first time since 1991 and sends an air combat force to Ukraine, just as the Russian president is making his own power plays.

Suddenly Mace, Furness, and the rest of their unit are hurtled into a dispute that goes beyond Ukrainian borders—a crisis that could lead to the horrors of all-out nuclear conflict.

“The action is, as you expect from Brown, great.”—
Kirkus Reviews

˜

For the U.S. government it's a losing battle. Drug smugglers no longer shy from confrontation—they relish it: blowing Coast Guard jets out of the sky and sinking Coast Guard cutters with powerful bazookas.

While the drug lords have become a coordinated force of devastating ruthlessness, the U.S. anti-drug agents are a squabbling shambles. A radical solution is needed. And Rear Admiral Ian Hardcastle has just that to offer. He will lead an elite and fearless unit (known affectionately in the business as Hammerheads) armed with the latest equipment and deadliest weaponry. Their sole aim is to hit the smugglers. And hit them hard.

“Clancy's got serious company.”—
New York Daily News

“A reader's delight from first page to last…”—
Publishers Weekly

˜

The Silver Tower is America's first permanent space station. Its primary function is to conduct experiments on space-based lasers for America's defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles. But on earth, far below the Silver Tower, tensions between the Soviet Union and United States are reaching a breaking point.

From Turkey, the U.S. Rapid Deployment Forces mobilizes to stop a Russian invasion of Iran with bombing raids from F/A 16D fighter-bombers. But the Soviets go on the offensive and launch intermediate-range
nuclear missiles. What follows is a dramatic, all-too-plausible chain of events leading towards the first nuclear war in space…

“Brown knows whereof he writes…a superb storyteller.”—
The Washington Post

“Intriguing…tense high-tech dogfights.”—
Publishers Weekly

˜

Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice

Hidden in the Nevada desert is America's most advanced aerospace-weapons testing facility. Dreamland is the place where the nation's top minds come to develop artillery and aircraft that push beyond the cutting edge. And where the Air Force's top guns come to test them—on the front lines of a new era in warfare…

The fiasco of a spy's infiltration has the Pentagon looking for an excuse to close down Dreamland. To clean up the mess—and save Dreamland from the congressional chopping block—Lt. Colonel Tecumseh “Dog” Bastian is sent in. He's just the guy to shake things up…and he does so when a situation erupts in Somalia.

Into a hotter-than-hot war zone, he sends his own daughter, Captain Breanna Bastian Stockard. She pilots a Megafortress bomber—equipped with a high-tech, unmanned flight system that could make or break the future of Dreamland…

“He writes about weapons beyond a mere mortal's imagination.”—
Tulsa World

˜

Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice

Dreamland's latest project is Flighthawk—an unmanned aerial-attacking craft. A radical, high-risk method has been invented to help pilots master the complex remote-flying skills required to control Flighthawk: the implantation, in the pilot's skull, of a microchip linked to the deadly machine.

Initially all goes well for the first volunteer, Army Captain Kevin Madrone. But the psychological stress proves too much—and suddenly Madrone disappears, armed with
and a part of
one of the most powerful weapons in the world…

“Nobody…does it better than Brown.”—
Kirkus Reviews

˜

Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice

The weapon is codenamed “Razor”—the brainchild of the brilliant minds at Dreamland. It is a mobile chemical laser system with a range of 600 kilometers. It is capable of downing anything that flies.

The destruction of an American aircraft over northern Iraq suggests the inexplicable and unthinkable: a vengeful foe now possesses this lethal technology. It is fear that draws a retired warrior back to the battlefield, and sends Dreamland's best pilots to the skies to determine what the enemy has and to help take it away from him.

But politics threatens to crush a covert engagement that
must
be won in the air and on the ground, unleashing a devastating rain of friendly fire that could ultimately annihilate a nation's champions…and perhaps Dreamland itself.

“The talk makes Brown's novels authentic. What makes them riveting is the rapid pace and headline urgency of his plots.”—
San Francisco Chronicle

Interviewer:
You began your first novel,
Flight of the Old Dog
, while you were still serving in the U.S. Air Force. What did your colleagues think of this?

Dale Brown:
I never really told anybody what I was doing. Most of them thought I was just playing computer games. The others thought I was wasting my time. I enjoyed proving them wrong!

Interviewer:
To what degree do you plan your novels before starting to write?

Dale Brown:
Probably not as much as I should. When I get an idea, I research it, and if I get some exciting info or background, I'll write a short outline for my editor, tweak it a little, then get busy.

Interviewer:
Is there such a thing as a typical writing day for you? If so, what form does it take?

Dale Brown:
Most days start at nine a.m. and go to four p.m., then restart at nine p.m. and go to eleven p.m. I usually rewrite in the morning and write new scenes in the afternoon and evenings. But every day is different. Some days the scenes flow like water—the next day it's as dry as a desert. But the important thing is to be in the seat with the computer on, ready to go.

Interviewer:
Dreamland
is the first novel in a new series you're co-writing with Jim DeFelice. Can you give us an idea of how the writing process works?

Dale Brown:
It should be bylined “Jim DeFelice with Dale Brown,” by the way. I invented the basic backdrop of the “Dreamland” series—the time, place, circumstances. I help develop the plot and the characters, and I review the manuscript. Jim does everything else. He's an incredibly talented writer and we work well together.

Interviewer:
As well as describing the development of the weapons and their use in combat,
Dreamland
also details the crucial political background to the military action. Which part do you prefer writing?

Dale Brown:
I prefer describing weapons and technology by far. But the fighting is actually just a tiny fraction of the conflict. The political/diplomatic stuff is not as exciting sometimes, but it's every bit as important to the story.

Interviewer:
Dreamland
's characters—“Dog” Bastian; his daughter, Bree Stockard; her husband, “Zen”; Mack “Knife” Smith—all face different challenges and all have different goals in mind at the beginning of the novel. To what extent are they based on real people?

Dale Brown:
We all know characters like these—the hot dogs, the dedicated ones, the smart ones, the obsessed ones. So all of my characters are based on folks I know. But it's also true that the characters take on a life of their own. Jim DeFelice and I talk about the characters as if they're real persons: “Bree wouldn't do that”; “Mack would say this.”

Interviewer:
The novel depicts certain rivalries among those on the ground and those who take to the air. It's the latter group who get the glory, yes?

Dale Brown:
No one likes to admit it, because it doesn't fit in with the “whole force” politically-correct concept, but the pilot is and will always be king of the U.S. Air Force. Only seventeen percent of USAF personnel are pilots, but they make up most of the unit commanders. Even if in ten to fifteen years most USAF combat aircraft will be unmanned, the pilot will still be king.

Interviewer:
Life in a secret establishment such as Dreamland—or even on a “normal” military base—must be hard enough without the staff having relationships. In your experience, do these relationships lead to difficult situations?

Dale Brown:
All the time—that's why we authors put them in our stories! We are always looking for conflict. It's another complication in wartime.

Interviewer:
Since the end of the Cold War, threats to “our way of life” are not so neatly geographically placed. Nor, aside from Saddam Hussein and various terrorist groups, is it clear where we should place our military priorities.

Dale Brown:
There are plenty of bad guys out there—but it sometimes takes more background to explain why they are the bad guys. Fifteen years ago, everyone understood why we were fighting the Soviets. But if you set a war story in Ukraine or Lithuania or the Philippines, you need to take some time and explain why we're fighting there.

Interviewer:
What effect has the advent of improved technology had on the art of being a fighter pilot?

Dale Brown:
It has changed it completely. The “dogfight”—two pilots, two planes—is all but dead. Life and death takes place in split-second battles that happen across dozens of miles, usually without either adversary ever seeing the other. Pilots are more systems operators than fliers nowadays. Sooner than most folks think, our fighters won't even have pilots in them!

This interview was first published, in a slightly different form, at www.fireandwater.com, the website of HarperCollins UK.

This is a work of fiction and a product of my imagination. Although I use the names of some real-world persons and organizations, their use is only to enhance authenticity of the story and is not meant to describe any real-world persons or organizations or depict their actual activities. Any similarity whatsoever is coincidental.

Brigadier General Patrick McLanahan, commander, 966th Information Warfare Wing; plans intelligence operations; 4 ops groups, 1 intel group

Major General Gary Houser, commander, Air Intelligence Agency

Colonel Trevor Griffin, deputy commander, 966th Information Warfare Wing, Lackland AFB

Command CMSgt Harold Bayless, Command NCOIC

Chief Master Sergeant Donald Saks, NCOIC, National Air Intelligence Center, WPAFB; produces foreign aerospace intel for DoD

Brigadier General David Luger, commander, First Air Battle Force

Brigadier General Rebecca Furness, commander, 111th Attack Wing; commander, 1 ABF/Air Operations

Colonel Hal Briggs, commander, 1 ABF/Ground Operations

Sergeant Major Chris Wohl, NCOIC, 1 ABF/GO

First Lieutenant Mark Bastian, Ground Ops squad leader

Staff Sergeant Emily Angel, ABF Ground Ops

Tech Sergeant James “JD” Daniels

Lance Corporal Johnny “Hulk” Morris

Colonel Daren Mace, Ops Group commander, 111th Attack Wing

Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Hellion, Fifty-first Bomb Squadron (EB-1C)

Colonel Nancy Cheshire, commander, Fifty-second Bomb Squadron (EB-52 and AL-52)

Colonel Kelvin Carter, operations officer, Fifty-second Bomb Squadron, AL-52 AC

Lieutenant Colonel Summer O'Dea, EB-52 AC

Major Matthew Whitley, EB-52 remote-control technician Major Frankie “Zipper” Tarantino, AL-52 MC

Captain Johnny “Soccer” Sammis, EB-52 MC

U.S. Marine Corps Captain Ted Merritt, Marine Special Purpose Forces platoon leader

Lieutenant General Terrill Samson, commander, Eighth Air Force

Brigadier General Charles C. Zoltrane, acting deputy commander and operations officer, Eighth Air Force

General Charles F. “Cuz” Kuzner, chief of staff, USAF

General Thomas “Turbo” Muskoka, commander, Air Combat Command

Lieutenant General Leah “Skyy” Fortuna, deputy commander, Air Combat Command

Admiral Charles Andover, chief of Naval Operations

General Walter Wollensky, commander, U.S. Space Command

General Randall Shepard, commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command; also commander of U.S. Northern Command

Colonel Joanna Kearsage, C-crew command director, Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station

Lieutenant Colonel Susan Paige, C-crew commander, Air Warning Center, NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base, Colorado

Brigadier General Jerrod Richland, E-4 AOC battle staff commander

Thomas Nathaniel Thorn, president of the United States

Robert Goff, secretary of defense

Richard W. Venti, USAF general, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Admiral Charles Andover, chief of Naval Operations

Douglas R. Morgan, director of Central Intelligence

Maureen Hershel, secretary of state

Darrow Horton, attorney general

General Anatoliy Gryzlov, president of the Russian Federation

Army General Nikolai Stepashin, chief of staff of the Russian military and commander, ministry of state security (chief of all intelligence bureaus)

Aviatskiy Kapitan Leytenant Josef Leborov, Tu-95MS-16 pilot

Aviatskiy Starshij Leytenant Yuri Bodorev, his copilot

General Jalaluddin Turabi, interim commander of Turkmen armed forces

Abdul Dendara, his aide

MV-32 PAVE DASHER tilt-jet special-operations transport, cruise speed 320 KIAS, endurance 5 hours (conventional takeoff/vertical landing/vertical takeoff/vertical landing), carries 18 combat-ready troops plus crew of three; cargo ramp allows Humvee-size vehicles to fit inside; 2 retractable weapons pods for defensive or attack missiles; 1 20-millimeter Gatling gun in steerable chin turret; satellite and inertial navigation plus imaging-infrared sensor and millimeter-wave radar allows global terrain-following flight

MQ-35 CONDOR air-launched special-operations transport, cruise speed 300 KIAS, endurance 3 hours (glide insertion/conventional takeoff from rough field/conventional landing on rough field); carries 4 combat-ready troops plus up to 260 pounds of cargo; remotely piloted; mission-adaptive skin and lifting-body technology allows aircraft to be controlled without wings or flight-control surfaces; small
turbojet engine and tricycle landing gear allows aircraft to take off from unimproved fields

RAQ-15 StealthHawk long-range reconnaissance and attack cruise missile; turbojet engine, 600 KIAS max cruise speed, max range 2,000 miles; lifting-body design, mission-adaptive flight controls; carries 6 AGM-211 mini-Maverick guided attack missiles; 2 can be carried by EB-52 Megafortress bombers on wing pylons or 2 in center bomb bay of EB-1C Vampire bomber; reloadable and refuelable by EB-1C bombers; launch weight 3,500 pounds

AGM-211 mini-Maverick, small TV-guided attack missile, 28-pound thermium nitrate (TN) warhead, glide-and rocket-boosted, 6-mile range

AGM-165 Longhorn TV-and IIR-guided attack missile, 200-pound TN warhead, MMW radar guidance, 60-mile range, 2,000 pounds each

AIM-120 Scorpion AMRAAM air-to-air missile, 50-pound warhead, 35 miles max range, triple-mode active radar, passive radar, or infrared, max speed Mach 3, 350 pounds each

AIM-154 Anaconda long-range radar-guided air-to-air missile, 50-pound TN warhead, 150-mile max range, ramjet engine, active-passive radar/IR guidance, max speed Mach 5, weight 6,000 pounds

AGM-177 Wolverine cruise missile, turbojet powered, max 50-mile range, 3 weapon bays, IIR or MMW radar terminal guidance, 2,000 pounds

AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), range 15 to 40 miles depending on release altitude, 1,500 pounds, unpowered glide weapon, carries 200 antipersonnel/antivehicle bomblets, 10 BLU-108/B antiarmor submunitions, or 500-pound high explosive; EB-52, B-2, or EB-1C can carry 8 on rotary launcher

ABM-3 Lancelot air-launched anti-ballistic-missile weapon, 200-mile range, plasma-yield or conventional warheads, 3,000-pound launch weight

Russian
:

AS-17 “Krypton” (Kh-31P) medium-range air-launched antiradar missile, max 120-mile range, speed in excess of Mach 3, 225-pound blast/fragmentation warhead; carried by Tu-22M Backfire bombers

AS-X-19 “Koala” (Kh-90) long-range air-launched attack missile, ramjet powered, max range 1,800 miles, speed in excess of Mach 8, 1-kiloton nuclear warhead with delayed trigger fuze and armored nose cap, designed for destroying deep underground or armored facilities; two carried by Tu-95 Bear bombers

AS-16 “Kickback” (Kh-15) inertially guided supersonic attack missile, 90-mile range, max speed Mach 2, 300-pound high-explosive warhead or 1-kiloton nuclear warhead; Tu-160 bomber can carry 24 internally on rotary launcher